Job cuts are looming across Wales’ bus industry as a result of the Welsh Government’s 25% cut in industry funding, transport operators have warned.

Job cuts are looming across Wales’ bus industry as a result of the Welsh Government’s 25% cut in industry funding, transport operators have warned.

The first small-scale losses have already emerged, but it is claimed these are the thin end of the wedge that will see the axe fall on further jobs as well as rural services.

One family-owned company in Neath is laying off four drivers because councils cannot continue funding services. Those jobs represent 17% of South Wales Transport’s drivers.

Similar job losses at other Welsh companies would add up to significant economic impact. The bus and coach industry employs an estimated 8,000 people in Wales.

Service cuts could also deprive people of transport to and from workplaces, one AM warned.

Councils expect bus funding to fall from £33m last financial year to just £25m in the next, as the Welsh Government cuts Bus Service Operators’ Grant (BSOG) and Local Transport Services Grant, for councils to support socially necessary transport.

Two councils have already told South Wales Transport that one service will be axed and another halved.

“We will be losing at least four jobs, and possibly one other job from somewhere in the organisation,” said managing director Bev Fowles.

“The local authorities are now giving the 90 days’ notice that they have to give. It’s not their fault. They’re having the cuts imposed on them.”

The doomed bus route links Goytre to Swansea via Port Talbot and Baglan. The route from Gorseinon to Morriston and Morriston Hospital will reduce from hourly to two-hourly.

“This is the first course. The main course is to come, when the impact of the BSOG cut in April is felt,” said Mr Fowles.

Bus companies could pull out of non-subsidised work, which tended to be more significant than work already subsidised by councils.

“Effectively it becomes a socially necessary service then. It has to be maintained but the councils haven’t got any money so I don’t know what will happen. I don’t think anybody has thought about that,” said Mr Fowles.

One company will axe seven routes in the Cynon Valley on 31 March, and job losses could be on the cards in Chepstow after council-owned Newport Transport launches town services there in February. Chepstow Classic Buses has operated Chepstow town services without subsidy since April.

Managing director David Hoare said his company would probably be unable to compete with its larger rival. “It’s a ridiculous situation. I don’t consider there’s enough [custom] for two of us in the town.

“We could stop our service, which would mean we lose four or five drivers.”

A manager at one of Wales’ biggest bus companies, who asked not to be named, said: “With the cut in BSOG, I think we’ll have to have an action plan to put it [the company] on an even keel which will inevitably lead to some cuts. We would hope to try to absorb that through natural wastage, which has generally been our policy.”

Natural wastage means companies not replacing employees who retire or leave to work elsewhere.

“If we find ourselves with 40 to 50 surplus drivers, we couldn’t wait for natural wastage to clear that up,” he added.

Recent UK research found 12% of the working population commutes by bus, rising to 20% among young people aged 16-19, and 11% of bus commuters had turned down a job in the last year because buses were unavailable or infrequent.

“If the service doesn’t allow people to reach their work in the morning and get back at night, they won’t be able to keep their jobs. Not all work starts at 9am and finishes at 5.30pm. A service that arrives by 8.30am and leaves at 6pm doesn’t suit everybody.

“In rural areas, people have to travel quite far for work. Wages, on average, are very low. Any transport apart from buses is impractical as the costs are too high. Even if you have a car, the costs of running it every day versus the pay you get means it’s just not sustainable.

“Where there’s a train service available, we’ve seen the fares go up substantially.”

John Freeman, managing director of Carmarthen-based Morris Travel, said he was waiting to hear whether the county council would axe any services operated by his company, which employs 40 people. “I don’t know how they can cut those services because, as far as I can see, they’re essential.”

John Gould, of Stagecoach in South Wales, said: “There isn’t any doubt that the cuts to funding are having a detrimental effect on the viability of bus services in Wales. There may be more bad news on the horizon. There are service cuts that may lead to job losses.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said the UK Government was cutting Wales’ funding by some £1.7bn over three years. The Welsh Government had therefore been forced to reduce its direct funding for bus and community transport services to £25m in 2013-14.

“However, we are also providing £73m to support the concessionary fares scheme in 2013-14, compared to £71m this year,” he said.

Local authorities would prepare strategies for local transport that would meet communities’ needs. “This will include proposals that will ensure that people can travel to access work and employment opportunities.

“Local bus services remain a key element in the Welsh Government’s strategy to tackle poverty and improve access for disadvantaged people. The overall level of funding that the public sector provides to bus operators in Wales reflects that, and remains significant. We would expect bus companies to play a full part in responding positively to the challenges that we face in the current financial climate.”

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